Cassandra had been right, of course. It had taken about a month, maybe two, before there were a decent amount of soldiers at Haven. I had been given a sort of "free-reign" of the area. I had visited Adan, the local alchemist, and had even gone and found his predecessor's secret recipe for a regenerative potion. I found Harritt, the blacksmith, and he had even aided me in creating my own set of armor, guiding my hand and showing me a few tricks. I made a mental note just to pay the slightly extra fee and allow the professionals craft from then on.
The hardest part – second hardest if you count being called Herald by everyone I passed – was convincing Varric to join me in exploring the local mountain. Solas had been easy to convince as being an elven apostate, even one that was/had helped, the people still gave him a questioning and doubtful look. And on our little trips we discovered a herd of Druffalo, which would allow for added beasts of burden as well as a supply of meat and pelts.
I was getting ready for hunting on my own when Cassandra knocked on my door. "Your presence is requested at the Chantry," she said her eyes down-turned. "Requested or demanded?" I asked, leaning more towards the demanding. Her checks flushed revealing the truth but her words said otherwise. "It is a request. We are striving not to make demands of the…," she began, and I raised my hand to stop her.
"Stop right there. I would appreciate it if you didn't say what I know you are about to. Give me a moment to finish putting my boots on correctly and I'll be right there." As I shut the door on her surprised face, I noticed over her shoulder Solas, across the way exiting his own hut, smirking with amusement. I gave him a quizzical look which he shrugged and gestured with his hand towards Cassandra and then the rest of Haven before moving on his way.
Five minutes later, Cassandra and I were walking into the Chantry side by side. My hand tingled, but I knew it was just because of the nerves of what had happened the last time I had entered here and of what could still happen. Almost unconsciously I glanced down at my hand, still lit with a subtle glow. "Does it trouble you?" Cassandra asked, noticing my glance.
"Not really," I said with a slight shake of my head, "I just wish I, that we knew what it was or how I got it." I must have been a little more wistful than I had meant to be because Cassandra's next words sounded more like a vow to me rather than the Inquisition. "We will find out. What is important is your mark is stable, as is the Breach.
"You have given us valuable time," she continued pulling to a stop a dozen or so feet away from the same door I had found her arguing with Roderick. "And Solas believes that a second attempt might succeed. Provided the mark has more power." Here her voice became a little uneasy, which is why I kept silent and allowed her to speak uninterrupted. "The same level of power that opened the Breach in the first place. That's not easy to come by."
"What harm could there be in powering up something we barely understand?" I said with a huff and a roll of my eyes. "Hold on to that sense of humor," Cassandra said with a mix between a scoff and a laugh. Before I could comment further she strode forward and pushed the doors open. I took a deep steadying breath before following. I don't know why I had been expecting Roderick to be in there, so it was a slight surprise to only find it filled with three other people than me and Cassandra.
"May I present Commander Cullen," Cassandra said, motioning towards the one gentleman in the room. "Leader of the Inquisition forces." Cullen giving a slight bow at her introduction couldn't help the slight scoff. "Such as they are," he muttered before raising to a more acceptable volume, "We lost many soldiers in the valley, and I fear many more before this is through." I gave a grim smile, but knew that I would make the same decision if it meant saving those that were missing.
"This is Lady Josephine Montilyet, our ambassador and chief diplomat," Cassandra said pointing towards a woman who I pegged for an Antivian. "Andaran atish'an," Josephine said with a nod. "You speak Elven?" I said, feeling my eyebrows rise. "You just heard the entirety of it, I'm afraid," she said with a slight blush. "More than most people," I replied encouragingly.
"And you know Sister Leliana," Cassandra said. "My position here involves a degree of…" she began, but Cassandra cut her off. "She is our spy master," Cassandra said, obviously eager to continue quickly. "Yes, tactfully put, Cassandra," Leliana said with a glare. "Impressive bunch of titles," I said, hoping they wouldn't get into a fight. Cassandra closed her mouth to what she had been about to say.
"I mentioned your mark needs more power to close the Breach for good," Cassandra said instead. "Which means we should approach the rebel mages for help," Leliana said, pointing to a place on a map that had been laid out on the table in the center of the room. "I still disagree," Cullen responded. "The templars could serve just as well." Cassandra let out a sigh that told me that this was already an old argument, and made me wonder how long they had been discussing this without me, and what I was doing here. "We need power, Commander. Enough magic poured into the mark…"
This lead to a fairly heated discussion between Cullen, Leliana, and Cassandra. "Unfortunately, neither group will speak to us yet," Josephine said, raising her voice above the others. She continued only once the others had quieted. "The Chantry has denounced the Inquisition, and you specifically." I shook my head and leaning into my arms on the table. "That didn't take long," I said softly.
"Shouldn't they be arguing about who should be next Divine," Cullen said with disgust. "Some are calling you – a Dalish elf- the Herald of Andraste," Josephine explained. "That frightens the chantry. Remaining clarics declare it blasphemy and we heretics for harboring you." Cassandra let out an indifferent huff. "Chancellor Rodericks's doing no doubt," she said.
"It limits our options. Approaching the mages or templars for help is currently out of the question," Josephine continued. "Just how am I the Herald of Andraste?" I asked in disbelief. Cassandra was the one who answered. "People saw what you did at the temple, how you stopped the breach from growing. They have also heard about the woman seen in the rift when we first found you. They believe that was Andraste."
"Even if we tried to stop that view from spreading," Leliana began. "Which we have not," Cassandra said cutting her off again. "Point is, everyone is talking about you," Leliana finished, glaring at Cassandra. I stepped back from the table and took a few steps around the room, and then turned back to everyone. "That's quite the title, isn't it?" Cullen said, obviously knowing my real distress. "How do you feel about it?"
"It's a little unnerving," I replied, surprised by the honesty in my voice. "The Chantry would agree," he said with a smile. I knew enough about the sehmlen religion to know that without their approval, this Inquisition truly was in a moment of being stuck. "There is one thing you could do," Leliana said, pulling a message out of one of her hidden pouches.
"A chantry cleric by the name of mother Giselle has asked to speak to you. She's not far, and knows those involved better that I. Her assistance could prove invaluable." With a quick look around I knew I wasn't the only one to doubt her words. "Why would she help us?" I asked, putting voice to everyone else's thoughts. "I've heard she's a reasonable sort," Leliana said, pushing for this option. "Perhaps she doesn't agree with the rest of the Chantry."
"I'll see what she has to say," I said after a moment of thought. I realized she was our only hope of getting the Inquisition on its feet. "You will find Mother Giselle tending to the wounded in the Hinderlands near Redcliff," Leliana informed us, not bothering to hide her joy. "In the meantime, let's look for other option," Cassandra said, taking the message from Leliana's hand. "I won't leave this all to the Herald." I tried not to wince at the title.